info on new format

[pigthepanzy]

Mr. Myers

I apologize for taking so long to respond to your question. The delay was mainly caused by deciding how to respond to your opening line ?what the hell is this type of torment?. After discussing it we have decided not to take any action at this time. However, I must inform you that this behavior is rude and inappropriate and that any similar outbursts in the future may result in your suspension from Pok?mon Organized Play (POP). That being said I will now try to answer your question. Keep in mind that POP will be providing the 4 regular booster and 2 POP booster participation prize and that anything further is at the discretion of the individual organizers.



The reasons for these changes are both financial and philosophical. The original prize structure was intended for tournaments of 50 or more players. Our actual average attendance has proven to be much lower. POP originally envisioned 30 to 40 large tournaments in North America. We then discovered that it was better to have twice that many smaller tournaments. Unfortunately, this resulted in POP sending 11 boxes of prize and judge support to 15-player tournaments, which was simply a terrible use of our Prerelease budget. The changes we have instituted will make smaller tournaments more worth our while so that we can continue to support the 80 or so Prereleases we now hold and perhaps add even more locations. Our goal is to give as many players as possible a chance to participate, not to lavish great rewards on a select few.



POP also wants to change the focus of Prereleases. Last season, many people treated Prereleases as highly competitive events, like a State Championships or a Gym Challenges. While this works well with the Modified Constructed format, it is less well suited to the Sealed Deck format of Prereleases. We want Prereleases to be a welcoming celebration for the release of a new set. They should be fun entry-level Premier Events that are easy and comfortable for our newest and our youngest players to attend. Prereleases were never intended to be highly competitive; that?s what Cities, States, Gyms, and Stadiums are for. Our new system is meant to reward participation, as well as reduce the great discrepancy between domestic and international prize support. POP realizes that some players will react with frustration to the changes, but we feel that most players will actually benefit in the long run.
this is the email thay gave me and it's a lot of crap does anyone agree :laugh:

 

[Satkun]

um... what is the point of this?

 

[Bullados]

I agree with it in principle. Many of the pre tourneys they run lose them a whole trashload of money, and they are trying to minimize their losses. It actually benefits those in an area where 70, 80, 90, even 100 players is the norm, as it gives more people more prizes. The places that lose are those with 20, 30, or 40 people regularly, but it's not much of a loss, as TOs are free to add more prizes if they so wish and their players are willing to pay more for the tourneys. I know of at least 3 pres in my area run by 3 different TOs that are adding prizes on to the 4 boosters that POP is promising, one of them is actually promising the original prize structure of 36-18-9-9 and extra POP series 1s for the rest of the T8. Check with your local TO for his or her prize structure, as it might vary from what POP is providing.

 

[STARSCREAM]

Ya, it is a pritty lame format. They may have made it better for the less competative players who are not as good at the game, but it made it pritty lousy for the players that are really good at it. At least at prereleases everyone has the same chance of pulling good cards but I heard that the Prizes for Cities and States are going to have around the same amount of prize support, I hope not since that would definately not show appreciation for there customers who spend a lot of money to get all the best cards and be able to have that competative edge they need to win. It is after all a card game, and like all card games they are ment to be competative, otherwise there would be no point in having major tournaments like Worlds.

 

[Bullados]

As compared to last year, the product prizes for Premier events have been halved, which is understandable considering that ALL PREMIER EVENTS WILL BE *FREE OF CHARGE*. Meaning that prizes will be 18-9-4-4-2-2-2-2 with some POP Series 1 for everybody. Again, this can be altered in the positive direction by each respective TO, and I know at least one that is making it the same as last year and adds on POP Series 1.

 

[Megatron]

I agree with it in principle. Many of the pre tourneys they run lose them a whole trashload of money, and they are trying to minimize their losses. It actually benefits those in an area where 70, 80, 90, even 100 players is the norm, as it gives more people more prizes. The places that lose are those with 20, 30, or 40 people regularly, but it's not much of a loss, as TOs are free to add more prizes if they so wish and their players are willing to pay more for the tourneys. I know of at least 3 pres in my area run by 3 different TOs that are adding prizes on to the 4 boosters that POP is promising, one of them is actually promising the original prize structure of 36-18-9-9 and extra POP series 1s for the rest of the T8. Check with your local TO for his or her prize structure, as it might vary from what POP is providing.

What state are you in that there are 70, 80, 90, even 100 in the norm? My state only gets around 15 people at leagues and even at prereleases, probably since the game is dying with all these new changes and the fact that they are not promoting the game for newer players as Wizards did with there great leagues and much better promo cards. Also Wizards had remake sets that let the old cards be legal in modified tournaments again.

Now for what the email from POP said prereleases "should be fun entry-level Premier Events that are easy and comfortable for our newest and our youngest players to attend" I'm sorry but these are basically the only sealed events people go to and basically the only tournaments that count towards players limited ratings so obviously if people care about there limited rating they are going to take the tournament seriously. Also they talk about younger players but the game is not recomended for kids under 10 plus that is what they have the age groups for.

PS: Does anyone know where to send ideas to help the game regain popularity where it is really going to be looked at seriously, not to POP or PUI any advice given to them always falls on deaf ears.

 

[Bullados]

The best unofficial forum for that is www.pokegym.net.

Again, many TOs that I've heard of are upping the prizes with only a minimum of price increases (generally from 15 to 18, they can't charge more than 20 for these things).

70-100 ppl isn't uncommon, hell, I've been to plenty of tourneys in the Chicago area that have 70+ people. Texas almost always has at least 80 in every big tourney, as does St Louis and Tennessee and New York and SoCal. And again, you can always get a prize increase if you're willing to accept a slight price bump.

 

[AdamHays]

What state are you in that there are 70, 80, 90, even 100 in the norm? My state only gets around 15 people at leagues and even at prereleases, probably since the game is dying with all these new changes and the fact that they are not promoting the game for newer players as Wizards did with there great leagues and much better promo cards. Also Wizards had remake sets that let the old cards be legal in modified tournaments again.

Now for what the email from POP said prereleases "should be fun entry-level Premier Events that are easy and comfortable for our newest and our youngest players to attend" I'm sorry but these are basically the only sealed events people go to and basically the only tournaments that count towards players limited ratings so obviously if people care about there limited rating they are going to take the tournament seriously. Also they talk about younger players but the game is not recomended for kids under 10 plus that is what they have the age groups for.

PS: Does anyone know where to send ideas to help the game regain popularity where it is really going to be looked at seriously, not to POP or PUI any advice given to them always falls on deaf ears.

I haven't been in many,but i agree.Yeah and were are you that you get so many people?the norm when i go is like 20,if lucky 25.

 

[Bullados]

Again, it isn't uncommon, but it's not the easiest thing to get either. I actually consider the old format to be unfair to those in the more populus divisions, as our area has about 50 Profs but 3 ppl under the age of 10 (an age disparity that I took advantage of, having a 10 yr old cousin). B/c of the new prize distribution it's harder to take advantage of that b/c the only wayt to get more prizes is if a lot of ppl show up and the TO is fairly nice AND they charge somewhat more than what they used to, but not more than $20. Think bout it this way: even if you DID have to pay $20, you're still getting packs at about half of what they're worth retail.

 

[Megatron]

The best unofficial forum for that is www.pokegym.net.

Again, many TOs that I've heard of are upping the prizes with only a minimum of price increases (generally from 15 to 18, they can't charge more than 20 for these things).

70-100 ppl isn't uncommon, hell, I've been to plenty of tourneys in the Chicago area that have 70+ people. Texas almost always has at least 80 in every big tourney, as does St Louis and Tennessee and New York and SoCal. And again, you can always get a prize increase if you're willing to accept a slight price bump.

Read my original PS: Does anyone know where to send ideas to help the game regain popularity where it is really going to be looked at seriously, not to POP or PUI any advice given to them always falls on deaf ears. The people on there are with PUI and there is already so much good abvice on there that they haven't done anything with.
Just because the TOs are upping the prizes doesn't mean there raising them enough to make it worth it.
Also you are still not saying were these prereleases are that are getting 50+ people, this is about prereleases not normal tourneys, I would expect gym and stadium challenges to get that many people but not prereleases, since they never give good prerelease cards like Magic does.

 

[Bullados]

I've looked over all the numbers: 50 is about the national average for a pre, with the MAX being around 100 for many of the Texas tourneys and the minimum being about 23, I think that was the Iowa one.

and Pokegym is probably the best place to find ideas about advertising if POP/PUI isn't listening to you. Also, make sure to take the Professor test, as they listen more to Profs than they do to regular players and/or TOs.

 

[pigthepanzy]

hi..............................................................